The Rajasthan government is planning two significant amendments to the Right to Education (RTE) Act: reintroducing exams in at least three classes from Class I to 8, and giving more weightage to “learning outcomes” than to physical infrastructure of schools while deciding on their recognition or registration.

The National Independent Schools Alliance is the largest association of budget private schools in India. As of today, it represents over 36,400 schools from 20 state associations, which cater to the needs of ~9.35 million children at an average of ~250 children per school. Watch this video from the first School Leaders Summit held at New Delhi in 2012.

Four years after it became an Act and a year of implementation later, it is becoming very clear that the Right to Education Act (RTE) is deeply flawed. The Act was called a sieve by this author in this very publication in 2010, and much of what was predicted has come to pass. It was a significant piece of social re-engineering where the intent was to bring the rich and the poor to the same classroom. The RTE Act was a daring piece of legislation for two reasons.

Budget private schools, which serve children from low-income families, face a threat of closure under the right to education (RTE) act 2010.

According to a National Independent Schools Alliance report, since 2011, 19,414 schools have been shut or issued notices in 17 sates, affecting about 3,494,520 students. The RTE act requires private schools to fulfil norms related to infrastructure and teachers' salaries in order to be recognised.